Think about how many NDSU students use the Bike Share. My guess is at least three or possibly five.

The NDSU Bike Share is a great addition to the nice benefits we pay for by coming to NDSU. The service helps many students get to their classes on time whether it’s after a barrel roll off a flying pig’s back while yelling at Legos night of drinking (you know who you are) or sleeping through your roommate’s alarm and them getting up and ready for their 8 a.m. class.

The Bike Share is a good system that gets people where they need to be, but only when there are bikes that work or if there are even bikes available. I can’t tell you how many times I have walked from my apartment, this year alone, and I have looked at the Bike Share rack and been like, “Well … I do need to work on my cardio anyway,” because of the lack of bikes.

Something even worse than no bikes is when I am walking toward one of the four Bike Share stations around campus, mine up by Niskanen included, and I see several bikes in an odd docking order that doesn’t make sense to what I see from working bikes.

I say, “Oh yay bikes … wait a sec. There is a reason why they are like that.” Then I reach them and about 50 percent of the time there is a reason those bikes were not taken. The bike’s tires are flat, or the docking station took lessons from “Hungry Hungry Hippo” and won’t let everyone else have the balls.

While I went out to get a picture of the bikes for this article, a guy by the name of Nate oddly enough, was having trouble with them. Nate says that the “Bike Share (stations) should be fixed.” I agree, Nate. I agree. My thought on this is maybe a maintenance procedure at the very most, perhaps, once or twice a month to just check the hippo/Bike Share stations.

Another thought I have had on the Bike Share is the lack of space available at a rack. Everyone has seen this scenario happen at least once so far. Most have had it happen. Some say it has not happened to them. They lie.

A Bike Share dock is full. An innocent young student going to class is so happy and joyful. They see the dock. Their precious little face sinks a little. They may linger a little to see if anyone takes a bike so they may put theirs in, but no one does.

Crestfallen, they slowly start the pedal back from whence they came. My final thought, because my fingers hurt and I have to go get my laundry soon, is that there should be additional bike slots at each of the stations. I’m thinking another three docks for the Mathew Living Learning Centers, two for Niskanen, 10 for the Memorial Union and seven or so for the Reed/Johnson stations. Those numbers aren’t random as most might think. Those numbers are my educated guesses based on what I have experienced with the Bike Share and availability of bikes working or non-existent around campus.